(Mani Shankar Aiyar is a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha)When
Narendra Modi so peevishly cancelled the Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks that were scheduled to commence 25 August, did he take into account the fall-out in the Valley of Kashmir of the consequences of proffering the excuse of Pakistani contacts with the Hurriyat as the proximate cause of the breakdown? If he did not, that was irresponsible. And if he did, then it was even more irresponsible.
(India Calls Off Talks With Pakistan Over Its Envoy Meeting Kashmiri Separatists)For, as a long-time non-Kashmiri resident of Srinagar texted me, "So unfortunate. Now the Hurriyat are heroes in the Valley. Inept beyond belief!" I have just spent half a day in Srinagar. I was amazed at the way in which a cross-section of academics at Kashmir University, students, ordinary policemen and drivers greeted me and hugged me as if I were a long-lost friend - in fact, I was seeing most of them for the first time. The warmth of their welcome was entirely owing to my having aggressively opposed on the media - particularly on television - the whimsical, childish decision of the government to cancel the talks merely because the Hurriyat was talking, as it has done for at least 19 years past, to Pakistan.
After front-paging rival statements by the Pak High Commissioner and the Indian spokesman,
Greater Kashmir also front-paged Hurriyat chairman Geelani's demand to Pakistan that they "give preference to the resolution of the Kashmir dispute than trade ties and other issues with India." We have long settled with Pakistan that our dialogue will be comprehensive and composite - that any issue of interest to either side may be raised and discussed. Why give the Kashmir separatists an opportunity to highlight their alternative Kashmir-centric view of how the dialogue might be structured? Their view had few Kashmiri takers over the years. Now, Modi has made Geelani sound reasonable to many Kashmiri ears. What monumental incompetence!
Geelani's spokesman added that, "Geelani
sahib conveyed his gratitude to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for taking a stand on meeting with separatists." Had the Hurriyat been allowed to meet the Pakistan High Commissioner, those thanks would have been directed to our government.
Instead, Nawaz Sharif scores brownie points while our guy is portrayed as a petulant, truculent obstructionist. Again, monumental incompetence!
(Also Read: 'Not Subservient' to India, Says Pakistan on Talks Being Cancelled)Yasin Malik argues that, "Due to unresolved dispute, over 80 per cent Kashmiris are suffering with depression. Trade and other issues can wait but there is an urgent need to resolve the Kashmir dispute as it is taking a heavy toll on Kashmiris." Where Hurriyat is a grouping of factions locked in internecine conflict, Modi has brought them together, sinking their differences. Is this what he intended to do? If not, does he realize that this is what he has in fact done?
And Shabir Shah has seized the opportunity to "pitch for unity among like-minded separatists" - a goal far distant thus far, and entirely to India's advantage. Meanwhile, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has twisted the dagger further into the Indian side, arguing that, "Terming Kashmir a bilateral issue won't change its dispute nature!"
Such voices are by no means confined to the separatist Hurriyat. The J&K Bar Association have expressed their "dismay" over the cancellation of the talks and denounced India for having "never been sincere in holding talks with Pakistan or Kashmiri pro-freedom leadership... it is only to hoodwink the world community that it occasionally agrees to hold talks with Pakistan, but thereafter back-tracks." The local state Aam Aadmi Party leader, Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat goes further, "When a senior Indian journalist, Dr. Ved Prakash Vaidik, can meet Hafeez Saeed in Pakistan, why cannot Kashmiri leaders meet Pakistani officials, as Kashmiris are the major stake-holders in Kashmir?" The Jammu Kashmir Salvation Movement chairman, Zaffar Akbar Bhat says, "If Kashmiris aren't stakeholders of Kashmir dispute, then why BJP government in 2000 held talks with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen leaders and commanders?" And, to top it all, the Hindu leader in the valley, Pandit Bhushan Bazaz "calls upon the Government of India to take serious and effective steps for resolution of Kashmir issue in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of Kashmiri people."
Even mainline Kashmiri politicians like the National Conference MP, Mohd Shafi are saying, "Dialogue is the only way out to address the issues. Any break-off in the dialogue process has a direct bearing on the people of Kashmir besides the two countries. There is need for holding talks so that the Kashmir issue is resolved amicably."
Whew! It takes some doing to unite disparate, quarreling Kashmiri groups across the spectrum to articulate their positions in a more or less unanimous voice. Modi's done it! Why?
The widespread belief is that the imbroglio over the Hurriyat encounter with the Pakistan High Commissioner was a "ploy" to call off the India-Pak talks. Naeem Akhtar of the PDP has said, "If New Delhi wanted to have talks with Pakistan, they could have stopped the separatists in Srinagar itself. But it allowed them to go to Delhi and then used it as an alibi for cancelling the talks." Shabir Shah adds that "our presence in Delhi was used to flare up nationalist passions through news channels and then they called off the talks."
He asks why they were not imprisoned in their houses in Kashmir except to trot out an excuse to cancel talks the government did not want. And why did they not want talks with Pakistan at this stage? Because, argues Shabir Shah, "The BJP again is appealing to the Hindu vote bank for upcoming Assembly elections by first allowing us to reach Delhi and then calling off the talks." He recalled that there were several instances in the past when Hurriyat leaders were detained in Srinagar rather than be allowed to visit Delhi for interaction with Pakistani leaders: in 2011, when Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani was in Delhi and again in 2013, when National Security Adviser, Sartaj Aziz came visiting. On both occasions, Shabir Shah was held in house arrest.
Moreover, why did the government, which knew of the High Commissioner's invitation to the Hurriyat on 10 August, wait for eight full days till the separatists were in Delhi to meretriciously state its objection to the consultation knowing full well that Pakistan would severely lose face if they meekly fell in with this new conditionality? I spy the nefarious hand of Amit Shah. He is in charge of the forthcoming J&K elections. With Kashmiri Pandits being mobilized to send in postal votes, Amit Shah clearly guesses that Modi being shown as a dragon with teeth by bullying the Pakis is an excellent tactic for drumming up saffron Pandit support.
(Also Read: Calling Off Talks a Message to Pakistan, Says BJP President Amit Shah)Fair enough. But if external relations with a key neighbour are going to be made a cat's paw in domestic electoral politics, it revels even more nakedly the naivete and irresponsibility that characterizes Modi's foreign policy.
The consequences of such irresponsibility are summed up tellingly by the Srinagar daily,
Greater Kashmir: "There is surprise and disbelief over New Delhi's dramatic cancellation of Foreign Secretary level talks over Pakistan envoy's invite to separatists... The NDA government has run itself out of options as far as the dialogue with Pakistan is concerned. There is now no immediate possibility that an engagement could be resurrected in the near future. And this is a tragedy. In the absence of any contact, the regional atmosphere will grow more tense with an attendant possibility of an escalation of the conflict." Is this what Modi wants?
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